Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
“Umm.” She rubbed at her temple. “I’m not sure.”
“Right. If you can’t remember, then it was too long ago. That’s not good, Freckles.”
“Why Freckles?”
“I’m not letting you distract me. But it’s because of these.” He ran his finger over the top of her nose.
Then she slammed her hand over her nose. “You can see them?”
“Uh, yes?” Why was she so upset?
“Shit. I didn’t put on enough make-up this morning.”
He didn’t like any of that statement. “You don’t have to cover them up. Why would you? They’re cute.”
She dropped her hand. “You really think they’re cute?”
“Course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Jonathan thinks they’re a flaw.”
“Jonathan’s a giant dick. Excuse my language,” he said hastily.
She grinned. “Jonathan is a giant dick. And you can swear around me.”
“My Ma would tan my hide if she heard me swearing in front of a lady.”
“Your Ma sounds like an amazing person.”
“She is. Raised me on my own after my dad died when I was six. There’s no one like my Ma.” Ester hadn’t gotten on with her, though. That should have been a red flag. Anyone who didn’t love his Ma as much as he did wasn’t for him.
He could see her talking to Chloe, though. The two of them sitting down at the big, worn table that she’d served thousands of meals on.
Damn.
He was getting ahead of himself.
“And I expect that when you’re in Little space, you won’t swear either.”
Her eyes widened.
Shit. Definitely getting ahead of himself.
“Who told you that I was a Little?” She looked so uncertain.
Shit. Had he messed up? Hux was going to kill him.
Why did he have to go saying that?
“Hux did. We don’t keep anything from each other. I hope you don’t feel he betrayed your confidence.”
“No. I don’t mind. I never said he had to keep it to himself. Is that the reason you decided you wanted to date me?”
Oh, fuck.
He cupped her face between his hands, wanting her full attention. “I wanted you from the moment I first saw you.”
“W-what?”
“When you walked into that room with Hux and Lord Fothersam, I took one look at you and I was blown away.”
“Really?” she whispered.
Did she not know how utterly beautiful she was? Seemed like she didn’t.
“You barely looked at me. I didn’t think you even liked me. You kept calling me, ma’am.”
He smiled. “You looked so beautiful that I thought you were completely untouchable. That there was no way someone like you would look twice at me.”
“Are you . . . crazy? Do you not have a mirror? Beck, you are . . . you’re one of the sexiest men I’ve ever seen in my life. I look at you . . . and I want to climb you like King Kong and claim you as my Big Ben . . . hmm, I think I’m mixing things up there.”
He had to grin. “I think I get the idea.” Although if anyone was King Kong it was him. He felt huge in comparison with her delicacy. He would have to make sure he was always careful with her.
“You guys coming or what?” Judd yelled.
“Grumpzilla is getting impatient,” he murmured.
She smiled. “Is he ever patient?”
“Hmm. Not that I’ve seen. Let’s go join them. I’ll get you something to eat. And you will eat it. Or I’ll tell Judd that you’ve been skipping meals. He’ll make it his life’s mission to make you eat. And if you think he’s stubborn and bossy now . . . just wait.”
“Jeez, you play dirty.”
“I do when it’s something important.”
Her eyes lit up at his words.
“But I do want to make something clear. I do not want you skipping any more meals, understand? It’s a risk to your health. And if we . . . well, I’m going to assume you know that I’m a Dom.”
“Yeah, uh, Hux told me. He said you’re a Daddy Dom. The McDaddy.”
“McDaddy?” Because of his size?
“Like the Daddiest of them all. Or something like that.” She gave him a nervous look. “You didn’t want me to know?”
“No. It’s not that.” He sent her a small smile. “Health and safety are very important to us McDaddies. And you’re risking your health by skipping meals.”
“I’m not a big eater.”
“It’s all right if you only eat a little bit. But you have to eat. And you might need some vitamins or shakes. I’ll do some research.”
“I’m really fine.”
“But we want you better than fine, Freckles. We want you to thrive.”
28
We want you to thrive.
These guys were crazy.
She couldn’t believe that Beck had piggybacked her. She’d barely been able to get her legs around him, he was so wide. But rather than his strength scaring her, she liked it.
She liked how secure he made her feel. As though he’d always listen to her. Always care what she had to say.
He took her hand in his, leading her toward the others. He walked slowly and every so often, he’d glance down at her feet.